Chahid El Hafed, March 2, 2026 – The Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared Persons (AFAPREDESA) expresses its deepest recognition and gratitude to the Movement for Sahrawi Political Prisoners (MPPS). For five years, this movement has carried out one of the most beautiful, most constant, and most moving acts of solidarity: a weekly gathering every Monday in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in Madrid.
Week after week, the MPPS keeps the flame of dignity alive by denouncing the injustice suffered by Sahrawi political prisoners held in Moroccan prisons. Their perseverance is a beacon in the midst of Spanish institutional indifference, reminding the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and Minister José Manuel Albares every week that more than thirty Sahrawis remain deprived of their liberty. These men are arbitrarily detained in particularly cruel conditions, more than 1,000 kilometers from their families, serving disproportionate sentences—including several life sentences—handed down in illegal trials marred by irregularities.
As confirmed by leading international mechanisms, such as the UN Committee against Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, these sentences are based on confessions obtained under torture. These bodies demand their immediate and unconditional release. The daily life of these prisoners is an ordeal, marked by degrading conditions, mistreatment, prolonged isolation, and a total absence of judicial guarantees and medical care. Amid the complicit silence of the mainstream media, the only means left for them to voice their pain is hunger strikes, in a desperate attempt to exist.
These five years of mobilization by the MPPS stand in brutal contrast to five years of inaction and silence on the part of the Spanish government. A silence that AFAPREDESA deems complicit, all the more serious given that Spain remains, for all legal purposes, the de jure administering power of Western Sahara—a territory awaiting decolonization—in accordance with international law and Spain’s own legislation.
For all these reasons, AFAPREDESA:
- EXPRESSES its most sincere gratitude to the MPPS for its unwavering commitment and invaluable work for the freedom and dignity of Sahrawi prisoners.
- DENOUNCES the lack of response from the Spanish government and demands that it break its silence and act immediately with the Moroccan authorities to follow up on the situation of Sahrawi political prisoners.
- DEMANDS that the Spanish government assume its responsibilities as the administering power and ensure, without further delay, the immediate release of all Sahrawi political prisoners and full respect for their human rights.
The plight of Sahrawi political prisoners can no longer be ignored. The Spanish government cannot preach the defense of human rights in Gaza or Ukraine while violating them in a territory under its administrative responsibility.
AFAPREDESA calls on all Spanish civil society, political parties, trade unions, and human rights organizations to join the MPPS gatherings, which take place every Monday at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Plaza de la Provincia, Madrid). Supporting the MPPS means supporting justice, international legality, and the freedom of the Sahrawi people.